NCAA Basketball Prediction: Missouri Tigers Visit Texas Longhorns
Monday, January 30, 2012
by Joe Rodriguez
When Missouri Tigers climbed to No. 2 in the rankings last week, the Tigers responded by putting together two of their more lackluster performances.
One was a loss 79-72 at Oklahoma State last Tuesday and the other was a 63-50 home win against Texas Tech, the team's second-lowest scoring effort of the season.
If the Tigers fail to show up for a third straight time at Texas on "Big Monday," it could spell trouble. The young Texas Longhorns are in a four-way tie for sixth place at 3-5 in the Big 12, but they've been increasingly competitive, most recently in a 76-71 loss at Baylor over the weekend.
- Missouri Tigers @ Texas Longhorns
When: 9:00 PM ET, Monday, January 30, 2012
Where: Frank Erwin Special Events Center, Austin, Texas
TV: 9 p.m. ET, ESPN
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SBG Global Sportsbook currently have the Longhorns listed as Even-point favorites versus the Tigers.
Missouri Tigers (19-2): Texas Tech is alone in last place in the Big 12 at 0-8, but the Red Raiders gave Missouri everything it could handle in Columbia on Saturday. Missouri coach Frank Haith was very complimentary of the Red Raiders' efforts to take away the inside play of Ricardo Ratliffe, the nation's leader in field-goal percentage. "The game plan was to take our paint production out," Haith said after Ratliffe mustered only eight points on 4-of-6 shooting, "and they did a nice job of that." The Longhorns have a few big guys they can throw at Ratliffe, so it wouldn't be a shock to see them follow Texas Tech's blueprint. The Tigers, who start four guards, rank sixth nationally in scoring (81.9).
Texas Longhorns (13-8): Texas appeared to be on the verge of stringing together a few wins, but the young roster — which features six freshmen among nine regular contributors — hasn't been able to break through during a very tough opening to the conference schedule. Right now, the Longhorns are a marginal NCAA Tournament team at best, but they're running out of opportunities for big wins if they hope to make a 14th consecutive appearance. Within the past two weeks, Texas has fallen by five or fewer points to Kansas State, Kansas and Baylor — three of the Big 12's heavyweights. A win against Missouri would go a long way towards fueling a late-season run.
1. Missouri senior Marcus Denmon hit 10-of-10 free throws on Saturday and is tied for the Big 12 lead in free-throw percentage (.915).
2. Texas senior JCovan Brown (19.7) and Denmon (17.8) are first and third in the conference in scoring, respectively.
3. In the Longhorns’ three conference wins, their opponents haven’t topped 55 points. In their five losses, they’ve given up at least 69 points each time.
BASKETBALL PREDICTION: Longhorns 71, Tigers 69.
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frank erwin special events center - frank haith - jcovan brown - marcus denmon - missouri tigers - ncaa tournament - ricardo ratliffe - texas longhorns
